Saturday, October 1, 2022

October/November selection: Cooking with Fernet Branca

For the October / November 2022 edition I chose the novel Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson (September 2005)


Right around the time when we started talking about our next selections at the beginning of this year, I read an article on The Guardian titled Top 10 cooks in fiction written by Annabel Abbs. Number 10 is Gerald Sampler, protagonist of the novel I chose:   
Gerald is a ghostwriter for C-list celebrities who likes inventing recipes. From his Tuscan hilltop he cooks with great gusto, using copious amounts of an Italian digestif called Fernet Branca. The plot is fast-paced but daft, the characters ludicrous but hilarious, and the recipes imaginative but ridiculous. Mussels in chocolate, garlic ice cream, a pie made from cat and kerosene, all doused in Fernet Branca, and described by one reviewer “lingering in the mind like poems”. This farce of a novel is a perfect reminder that no cook should take themselves too seriously.  
The New Yorker's review clarifies that two expats are the novel's main characters:
In this comic novel, two expats try to live on the same Tuscan mountaintop for the summer without killing each other: Gerald, an effete English snob and amateur cook who makes his living as a ghostwriter; and Marta, a bohemian composer from a crime family in a former Soviet republic. Hamilton-Paterson quickly seduces the reader with the perfectly captured acerbic tone and timing of Gerald and Marta’s badinage. 
I'm looking forward to reading how Gerald uses Fernet Branca in the kitchen, since when I was growing up in Italy it was strictly drunk as a digestivo (digestif).

Simonabriciole

Deadline for contributing your post: Wednesday, November 30, 2022.

Leave a comment below with a link to your post or email me at simosite AT mac DOT com

Remember that membership in our book club is open to anyone and we hope you will join us by reading these selections and creating inspired recipes. New participants are always welcome and so are returning ones. For more information about participating, click here.  

18 comments:

Camilla Mann said...

My post is up: https://culinary-adventures-with-cam.blogspot.com/2022/10/fernet-branca-chocolate-chunk-cookies.html

Thanks for hosting, Simona.

Claudia said...

Should be an entertaining read, thanks Simona. Looking forward to it.

Debra Eliotseats said...

I'm looking forward to it (and trying some Fernet-Branca).

Tina said...

I just started reading this the other day. The neighbor is a crazy character!

Simona Carini said...

Wow, Camilla, that was fast! Thank you for your contribution :)

I hope so, Claudia. I am too :)

Thank you, Debra. Looking forward to reading what you think of it :)

Yes, Tina, the cast of characters is supposed to be entertaining :)

Claudia said...

What a fun little romp! My post is now up: http://honeyfromrock.blogspot.com/2022/10/cooking-under-advisement-with-fernet.html

Simona Carini said...

Thank you so much, Claudia :)

Amy said...

Thanks for hosting! Here's my post: https://www.amyscookingadventures.com/2022/11/whisper-in-dark-cocktail.html

Simona Carini said...

Thank you so much, Amy :)

Marg said...

Here's my post for this selection

http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2022/11/weekend-cookingcook-books-cooking-with.html

Simona Carini said...

Thank you so much, Marg :)

Simona Carini said...

And here is my contribution: https://www.pulcetta.com/2022/11/recipe-radicchio-leaf-lettuce-salad-carrot-microgreens-persimmon.html

Debra Eliotseats said...

Am I the last one to post? http://eliotseats.com/2022/11/30/not-cooking-with-fernet-branca/

Simona Carini said...

Thank you, Debra :)

Deb in Hawaii said...

That would be me. Sorry, Simona. I ran out of time and won't have it up until tomorrow afternoon.
Life! ;-( But I am OK if I don't make the round up.

Simona Carini said...

Life happens, Deb, and we should not add to it unnecessary worry. Looking forward to reading your post :)

Deb in Hawaii said...

Hi Simona, Thank you--my post is finally up!
http://kahakaikitchen.blogspot.com/2022/12/simple-and-edible-pasta-e-fagioli-and.html

Simona Carini said...

Thank you, Deb :)